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The iconic great white in the Mediterranean Sea are in danger of disappearing, with poaching being a significant driver to their worrying decrease.

This conclusion is based on investigations carried out by researchers, who partnered with an marine preservation group. They indicate that some of the most threatened species – including great white sharks – are appearing for sale in ports across the North African coast.

These sharks are one of in excess of 20 Mediterranean shark species safeguarded by global treaties, which makes it illegal to target them or to offer them for sale.

However, by monitoring fishing ports along the coastline of North Africa, scientists discovered that a minimum of forty great white sharks have been caught and killed there in 2025 alone.

Videos shared online showing sharks under protection being brought dead into North African ports has been confirmed.

One piece of footage showed a large great white being pulled from a boat from a vessel in Algeria. Additional footage, taken in a Tunisian location, shows remains and fins of what appears to be a mako shark, which is also a species at risk.

Final Refuge

The project head, stated that many shark populations – great whites especially – had declined dramatically in the Mediterranean in the past years.

"No other body of water is subjected to such fishing pressure as the Mediterranean Sea," he said. "The impact of industrial fishing has been intensifying... and it's possible that they will vanish in the foreseeable future."

The Mediterranean great whites is now designated as Critically Endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

In their new mission to track and analyze the predators, the team worked in the Sicilian Strait – an area considered a "last stronghold" in the Mediterranean for several sharks at risk.

An important goal of their expedition was to fit a satellite tracking tag onto a shark – something that has never been done in the Mediterranean Sea.

To do this, the researchers used more than three tonnes of fish bait – including frozen fish parts and a substantial volume of scent oil to create a "scent trail" that many sharks can smell from hundreds of metres away.

After two weeks of work – laying bait, collecting water samples to search for shark DNA and using underwater cameras – the researchers were unable to locate any sharks to tag.

They captured only a brief glimpse of one shark on their submarine cameras.

"It's discouraging," the lead researcher said. "It just shows how depleted this ecosystem is."

While the team was searching for living sharks, they also learned that a young great white shark had been taken in a regional fishery – just a short distance from where they were working.

It is not clear whether that animal was accidentally caught in gear, or if it was targeted.

The team, however, calculates that more than 40 great white sharks have been harvested in that area. "This is a lot for a critically endangered population," the researcher emphasized.

Illegal Shark Trade

The team, along with local partners, are monitoring several fishing ports in the region. Evidence shows that sharks under protection are taken and traded in countries including Tunisia and Algeria.

The regulations safeguarding sharks are complex. Currently, two dozen endangered species have global protection – such as makos, angel sharks, threshers, and hammerheads.

An international agreement states that those species cannot be "kept on boats, transferred, landed, stored, or sold".

The agreement states "they must be released unharmed and alive [where] possible". Those rules do not tackle incidental capture and implementation differs from country to country.

A marine advocate noted that his own investigation found a number of sharks on sale. But, he said, there was a unexpected hopeful sign in the fact that white sharks were being found in markets.

"It shows that there is wildlife left," he said. "And if we can preserve this, there is a chance of recovery."

What Can Be Done?

In economically challenged regions in North Africa, fishers who catch sharks might face the choice of whether to feed their family, or release a protected animal to the ocean.

"Why would they throw sharks back into the sea when they require sustenance for their families?" asked a scientist. "If you provide alternatives and education in more responsible fishing, they will not catch protected species."

A conservationist added that if countries around the Mediterranean collaborated, "there is hope."

"But," he continued, "we've got to act very quickly."